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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. L BURT. UAR COUPLING.

No. 444,316. Patented Jan. 6, 1891.

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(No Model.)

' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. LA BURT. OAR COUPLING.

Patented Jan. 6, 1891;

nv VENTOI? Mot/o0 ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES JOHN LA BURT, OF NE? PATENT DEE-ICE.

YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDWARD A. PAGE, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 444,316, dated January 6, 1891.

Application filed June 4, 1890. Serial No. 354,244. (No model.)

To all whom it nmy'conccrn:

Be it known that 1, JOHN LA BURT, of the city, county, and State of New York, haveinvented a new and Improved Oar-Couplin g, of

5 which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in car-couplings; and the object of my invention is to produce an efficient coupling that will automatically couple and that may be operated from either the top or the sides of the car, so that it will not be necessary for the brakeman to go between the cars to couple the same.

To this end my invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompany- 2o ing drawings, forminga part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of two couplers detached from the cars and in locked position.

2 Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, but showing the couplers attached to the cars. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of one of the couplers, showing it in unlocked position. Fig. 4 is a view of the same, but showing the 0 coupler in locked position. Fig. 5 is a detailed plan view showing the mechanism attached to the coupler for coupling with an ordinary link, the link being shown in dotted lines; and Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a coup 3 5 ling attached to the car and showing in side elevation the mechanism for coupling with the ordinary link.

I have shown in the accompanying drawings the coupling applied to freight-cars; but

0 it may be used with passenger-cars as well. The car A has securely fi'Xed to its under side a suitable sleeve or socket B, having a shoul der B at its rear end and supported in said socket, and movable longitudinally therein is a shank C of the draw-head O, the rear end of said shank being provided with a vertical slot 0, which receives a key 0, and thus holds the shank C in position in the socket B. The shank C of the draw-head is provided with a shoulder O to limit its rearward moveinent, and coiled around the shank in the rear of said shoulder is a spiral spring I), one end of which presses against the shoulder C and the other against the shoulder B of the socket B. The spring will thus serve as a buffer-sprin g, acting in the usual well-known manner.

The draw-head C is provided with a horizontal segmental recess 0 in the rear portion thereof and with a horizontal recess C in the front portion thereof, the two recesses C and C being on the same plane and being separated by a vertical partition, and opening through said partition is a slot or recess (3*, said recess being located near one side of the draw-head. The draw-head is also provided with a vertical slot 0 which extends through the top of the draw-head and into the recess 0 and with a horizontal recess 0 in the lower rear portion thereof to receive the mechanism used in connection with the ordinary link, as hereinafterdescribed.

A coupling-piece D is pivoted in the recess (J of the draw-head, said coupling-piece having a laterallyand forwardly curved arm D, adapted to couple with a similar arm of an opposite coupling and with a laterally-extending portion D which is made thin at its outer edge, as shown, so that when pressed into the recess 0 it will just fill the same. The coupling-piece D is also provided with a rearwardly-curved arm D which is fixed to to the rear portion of the part D and projects through the slot C of the draw-head, said arm being adapted to move in the recess 0 of the draw-head. The coupling-piece is pivoted on the rod D", which extends vertically through the draw-head and is provided with a vertical rod" f, upon which is ii xed a suitable spring f, having two members, one of which presses against the face of the draw-head O and the other of which presses against the rear portion of the couplingpiece, being located in a recess thereof, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. The spring will thus press the part D of the coupling-piece forward and normally hold the coupling-piece in unlocked position, as shown in Fig. 3. The rearwardlycurved arm D of the coupling-pieceha's a slot (Z upon its upper edge, said slot being cut transversely in the arm, so that when the arm pressed back into the draw-head the slot 1! will be in vertical alignment with the slot c of the draw-head C, so that a sui able pin may be dropped through the slot 0 and into the slot (7, thus holding the couplingpiccc in locked position.

A rod or shaft Gis mounted in suitable supports upon the end of the car A, said shaft having fixed thereto, a forwardly-extemling arm g, which is provided at the end with a suitable hook g, adapted to engage an eye in the upper end of the pin e. The shaft G extends to the side of car, and is provided at its outer end with a suitable lever 5 so that by moving the lever the shaft may be turned, the arm g raised, and the pin clifted from ongagement with the arm D, thus unlocking the coupling-piece. The arm g has attached thereto a chain g", which extends upwardly and is attached to the end of an arm g, which is suitably connected with the lever so that by moving the lever the arm 9 may be raised, thus raising the arm 9 and the pin 6, as described, so that the pin may be operated from either the top or sides of the car.

Pivoted upon the rod D, at the upper and lower sides of the draw-head C, are the arms II, which are connected at their outer ends by the vertical rod 71, and loosely mounted upon said rod is the link I, having a forwardlyextending portion provided with a vertical slotiand a laterally-curved portion L, adapted to engage the arm Dof the coupling-piece D, as hereinafter described. The link I is also provided with upwardly-projecting cars i between which is pivoted the curved pin J, having its free end j adapted to project through the slot 1? and to hold the pin in engagement with an ordinarylink, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. (3. The pin J also has a depending portion j below the point where it is pivoted, so that when a link comes in contact with said depending portion it will push the same inwardly and cause the pin J to drop and engage the coupling-link. The pin J has a suitable chain J attached to its upper edge, and when the pin is not; in use the pin, the link I, and the arms II are swung rcarwardly to one side of the coupler, as best shown in Fig. 2, and the chain j is hooked to an eye 7a on the under side of the car A, thus holding the link-coupling mechanism out of the way of the coupling-piece 1.); but when the conplingis to be coupled with an ordinary link said parts are swung in front of the coupling-piece D, said coupling-piece being securely locked in the manner described, and the chainj is hooked to the end of the arm so that by operating said arm by means of the levers connected therewith the pin J may be raised and the link i held at a desired height upon the rod 72, so as to readily engage with the coupling-link.

The device operates as follows: When two cars come together, the arm D of one couplingpiece will strike the part D of the opposite coupling, thus forcing the arm I) back into the recess (l ot'the d raw-head, and when the slot (t comes beneath the slot 0' of the draw-head the pin 6 will drop into the slot (1, and thus hold the conplipg-piece in locked position, and as the same operation will take place in the opposite coupling the parts will be sccurelylocked together. The arms D of the coupling-pieces I) should he made sutt'r ciently wide for a coupling-piece of one car to engage the coupling-piece of the other, even when the cars vary greatly in height. The part t" of the link I should be curved in such a manner that it will tit nicely against the inner surface of the arm I) of the couplingpicce,and there will beno strain upon the rod 72, as the strain will be all taken up by the parts '21 and D.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the cars will automatically couple and that they may be very easily uncoupled; but the weight ofthe pin 6 will hold it in the slot (1 when the couplings are locked, and it will therefore be impossible for the cars to become accidentally uncoupled.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- 1. A car-coupling comprising a draw-head having a horizontal recess separated by a transverse vertical partition having an opening therein and a vertical opening from the recess through the top of the draw-head, a coupling-pieee pivoted in the draw-head and fitting the front portion of the recess, said coupling-piece having alaterally-eurved coupling-arm and a rearwardly-curved arm to move in the rear portion of the draw-head, and having a slot in its upper side, and a pin adapted to move in the vertical slot of the draw-head and engage the slot in the arm of the coupling-piece, substantially as described.

2. In a car-coupling, the eombination,with a draw-head having a horizontal recess therein and a vertical slot extending from said recess through the top of the draw-head, of a coupling-piece pivoted in the draw-head and adapted to swing horizontally therein, said coupling-piece being provided with a laterally-curved coupling-arm and a rcarwardlycurved arm adapted to move in the horizontal recess of the draw-head, said arm having a transverse slot in the upper part thereof, a spring fixed to the coupling-piece and adapted to normally hold the same in unlocked post tion, a pin mounted loosely in the vertical slot of the draw-head and adapted to enter the slot of the coupling-piece, and a lever mechanism connected with said pin and extending to the top and sides of the car, substantially as described.

3. In a car-coupling, the combination,with a draw-head provided with a horizontallyswinging coupling-piece havinga curved couplin g-arm, as described, of a horizontally-swinging link pivoted to the draw-head and provided with a curved portion to engage the coupling-arm of the coupling-piece, and a ver tically-swinging curved pin mounted upon the link and adapted to engage a link of an adjoining coupling, substantially as described.

4. In a car-coupling, the combination, with the draw-head O, suitably mounted upon the car and provided with the horizontal recesses C and C and the connecting-slot C of the coupling-piece D,pivoted in the recess C and provided with the laterally-curved couplingarm D, the tapered portion D and the rearwardly-curved arm D having a slot (1 therein, the pin 6, movable in the slot of the drawhead and adapted to engage the slotd of the coupling-piece, and a suitable lever mechanism connecting with the said pin and extending to the top and sides of the car, substantially as described.

5. In a car-coupling, the combination, with the draw-head G and coupling-piece D, having the curved arm D, of the arms H, pivoted to the draw-head and connected at their outer endsby a rod h, the link I, pivoted upon said rod and provided with a forwardly-extending slotted portion 1' and a curved portion 11 to engage the arm D, the curved pin J, mounted upon the link I, as shown, andthelevermechanism connected with said link and adapted to be operated from the top and sides of the car, substantially as described.

6. The combination, in a car-coupling, with the link I, suitably mounted upon the coupling, as shown, of the curved pin J, adapted to engage an adjoining link and provided with a depending portionj, substantially as shown, and for the purpose described.

JOHN LA BURT.

Witnesses:

WARREN B. HUTOHINSON, EDGAR TATE. 

